The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-10-22
THE AIR LINE SCOOP.
BIG RAILROAD CONSOLIDATION
TO BE EFFECTED.

The Birmingham and Atlantic Air
Line, Birmingham, Georgia and Florl-
da and Macon and Lagrange TO Pull
Together - Conference Between the
Omcials-What is Being Done.
Maj. J. 4. 4. West returned yesterday
from Atlanta where lie has been attending
a railroad meeting which win probably re
suit in the consolidation of large and i'm
portant interests
The Birmingham and Atlantic Air Line
is now building between Savannah and
Birmingham, and the Birmingham, Georgia
and Florida, from Birmingham through
Southwest Georgia into Florida. The
Macon, LaGrange and Birmingham people
are considering the advisability OF building
a line parallel to the Birmingham and At
lantic Air Line. The road has been rival
of the Air Line from the beginning, but it
is probable that the days of rivalry are
past.
Messrs. Montgomery, Wallace and Jack
son, of the Birmingham. Georgia and
Florida; Langley and Mcfarland, of the
Macon, LaGrange and Birmingham Searcy,
lruitt and Render, Of the Air Line and Maj.
West, of the United States Construction
Company, met in Atlanta on Monday. Col
j. L. Warren, of the Savannah Dublin and
Western, and Mr.. Dudley Hughes, of the
Dublin and Macon. were present, but did
not officially appear, as their interests were
represented by the construction company,
which is carrying out their contracts.
TO CONSOLIDATE THEIR INTERESTS.
The subject of the meeting was to discuss
the advisability of consolidating all the
wartf tv,A. 4
operating under one company. The Macon,
LaGrange and Birmingham cannot ad-
vlsedly build line if the Airline is put
through, yet the Airline would be greatly
benefited II it had the assistance instead of
the opposition of the Macon, LAGRANGE and
Birmingham people. The Birmingham,
Georgia and Florida will build east to the
Chattahoochee river, crossing at West
Point, but if they run the line little
little further north, 50 as to cross the river
higher up, the Airline could use
its track from the Chattahoochee to
Birmingham, and thus save the building
of about eighty miles of road, while the
Birmingham, Georgia and Florida would
not increase the length of their line but a
few miles. A consolidation would there
fore be to the interests of ALL for the pro-
Jectors of the Birmingham, Georgia and
Florida would have an outlet TO deep water,
which is the great desideratum in Birming-
ham, much sooner than otherwise The
Macon, LaGrange and Birmingham would
get into the field, and the Air Line would
receive benefits from both.
A POWERFUL COMBINATION.
The most important point of all is that
each of the Companies has enormous sub
scription to both its capital stock. and its
construction company stock, and if these
subscriptions are put together they
will make a capital that will be
equal to carrying through almost any en-
terprise that might be undertaken. The
meeting lasted for several days, and the
gentlemen were in conference both day
and night. Maj. West said he
was not at liberty to tell
what had been done. but when the gentle
men parted it was with the most friendly
feeling.
The Airline has its right of way into Sa-
vannah over all the land through which it
desires TO run, except over five farms. Two
of them are owned by negroes whose hold
ings are 50 small that the company will not
ask for the right of way, but will buy it,
The other three are larger tracts. and it is
expected that the owners will donate
the right of way in few days. There were
four property owners who stood out, but one
of them wrote TO Mai. West yesterday and
said that after thinking the matter over, he
came to the conclusion that the road would
be of such great interest to Savannah that
he thought he ought, out of public spirit,
to withhold the right of way no longer.